The mainstream media have a meme they post over and over and over: The Republican Party is in “disarray.” Sometimes they say it’s “divided.” Or there’s “discord,” or “dissension,” or “dysfunction.” Other times, the GOP is ripped apart by “disunity” or “disharmony.”

Like just last week. Amid the annual Conservative Political Action Conference held outside of Washington, The Associated Press wrote this:“Conservative conference highlights GOP divisions.”

“The nation’s top Republican leaders are courting conservative activists gathered in suburban Washington this week, highlighting the tug of war over the soul of the GOP,” the left-leaning wire service wrote — for the millionth time.

While there are never — ever — stories about discord in the Democratic Party, this constant chorus by the MSM that the GOP is divided is a simplistic, even ham-handed, attempt to make a single point: If the Republican Party can’t even get its own house in order, how could it possibly govern America?

But the know-nothing, couldn’t-care-less press corps misses that the Republican Party really has once again become the “Big Tent” that President Reagan once set as a top goal. It is, as several top party leaders have said recently, full of warriors fighting it out on “the battlefield of ideas.”

None, to be sure, fits neatly into any one category: There is crossover support for all from the different camps. But unlike the Democratic Party, where members march in lock step, all parroting the exact same “principles,” there is open debate in the GOP — the Big Tent.

The great debate now is which way to go. Republicans are on a bona-fide losing streak, and there’s a split: Go more moderate, possibly jettison the focus on social issues; or go further right, hew to the true conservative ideals embodied by Mr. Reagan.

Mr. Ryan captured the idea perfectly in his speech to CPAC.“The way the left tells it, the Republican Party is in a civil war,” he said.“It’s tea party versus establishment — libertarians versus social conservatives. There’s infighting, conflict, backbiting, discord. Look, I’m Irish — that’s my idea of a family reunion.”

In his speech to conservatives, Mr. Cruz summed up the situation as he sees it.

“All of us remember President Dole, and President McCain and President Romney. Now, look, those are good men, they’re decent men, but when you don’t stand and draw a clear distinction, when you don’t stand for principle, Democrats celebrate,” he said. The comment drew rebukes from top party leaders.

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) confirmed on Wednesday evening that he is still unaware of the five-year-old Tea Party movement that has rocked U.S. politics, including the U.S. Senate in which he has served for 36 years.

“I said I didn’t know much about the Tea Party, and I didn’t,” Cochran said on WXXV television in Mississippi on Wednesday evening.“I heard...I read newspaper articles about them, and that’s about all I knew.

Cochran was referring to comments he made a month ago when, referring to the Tea Party, he told WAPT NBC News in Mississippi,“That is something I don’t know a lot about.”

Cochran was born in 1937. He has served in the U.S. Senate for 36 years and in the U.S. Congress for 42 years. He was first elected to the Senate in 1977 and has been serving since 1978, after three terms in the House.

Cochran’s unawareness of the Tea Party movement comes as he is facing a primary challenger from its ranks, two-term State Sen. Chris McDaniel. McDaniel has the support of Tea Party leaders like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, radio host Mark Levin, Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund, FreedomWorks, Tea Party Express, Club for Growth, and various others.

Meanwhile, Cochran’s alliances span outward largely from his close relationship with former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Barbour’s Godfather-esque stronghold on the state’s political process. Barbour and his family are openly backing Cochran against McDaniel and the Tea Party movement, sparking an open war in the southern state between the two factions of the GOP--establishment and grassroots--that are fighting for control of the party’s future.

McDaniel, for his part, ripped Cochran for being out of touch because of his unawareness of the Tea Party movement for five years.“After 40 years in Washington, it is sad to see Sen. Cochran more familiar with his lobbyist friends than the conservative folks here in Mississippi,” McDaniel said in a statement.“If Sen. Cochran wants to learn about the conservative tea party movement, he should join me at one of my town hall meetings and actually get to know the folks who make our state and Republican Party great.”

Even in "liberal" New York State, many Conservatives are registering to vote, many conservative leaning Independents too. In past years, only a fraction of eligible voters went to the polls here. I get a sense that is about to change.

BERKELEY, Calif.— Delivering a rare speech for a Republican at this bastion of liberalism, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Wednesday was given multiple standing ovations by the left-wing audience after railing against government surveillance and warning the students:“Your right to privacy is under assault.”

“I am here to tell you that if you own a cell phone, you’re under surveillance,” he told the crowd.

A few days ago, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told the New York Times that in 2014, conservative insurgents – meaning Tea Party supporters – have no chance against his GOP establishment.“I think we are going to crush them everywhere,” said McConnell.[1]

We’ve got news for the 30-year Senator from Kentucky: if the GOP establishment learned to fight for conservative principles every once in a while, his title might be “Majority Leader” instead of “Minority Leader.”

It’s in large part because of the Tea Party movement that the Republican Party even has the majority in one-half of Congress. Yet McConnell and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner, continually capitulate to President Obama, Harry Reid and their liberal agenda, and refuse to stand firm on conservative values.

Under their leadership, Congress has fully funded Obamacare, which continues to increase health care costs and limit care options for Americans around the country. McConnell and Boehner caved to President Obama on the issue of tax increases, and raised the debt limit without any spending cuts.

Where is the conservative leadership? On Capitol Hill, any bill worth praising that passes the House is put under the proverbial lock and key in the Senate by Majority Leader Harry Reid. Where is McConnell?

Instead of resorting to juvenile threats to “crush” the Tea Party, the Republican leadership should focus on what it was sent to Washington to do: look out for Americans’ interests. That means defeating Obamacare. It means stopping the IRS’ persecution of law-abiding citizens. It means stop the runaway spending and ballooning national debt that steals from the future of our children.

Time and time again, McConnell and Boehner have proven they won’t fight to protect your money, defend your freedom and your rights, and provide the best opportunities for you and your family to succeed.

Rob Astorino for NY State Governor. Andrew Cuomo continues to push his far left agenda. Un-Constituitional gun-control(because very few crimes are committed with the type of firearms targeted? and criminals will follow the law? and the majority of NY law enforcement say they will not enforce it?), more free college programs for incarcerated criminals(because the multitude of existing costly education programs for convicts is not enough?), late term abortions perfromed by non-doctors with no parental consent for minors(because we don't kill enough babies?)

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